>[log in to unmask] writes: I am looking at 'William the Conqueror', and wondering
if >there are any other works/descriptions/comments by Kipling on the Indian
Famine
>or the famine-relief under the British Empire.
Dear Kaori Nagai
I can't think of any other Kipling piece on famine, although it was one of
those events which could strike India at any time. Kipling based his story
on fact, the application of the 'Famine Code', those rules for combatting
famine finally formalised by the Famine Commission of 1880 but based on the
lessons learnt after the first great famine of British government rule, the
Orissa famine of 1860, in which a quarter of the population of Orissa died.
There is a whole chapter on famine in The men Who Ruled India - The Guardians
by Philip Woodruff (Philip Mason) published by Jonathan Cape, London, 1954.
This gives a history of Indian famines and how they were dealt with by the
British authorities. It also includes extracts from the report of Herman
Kirsch, 23 year old son of a London surgeon, who, six months after arriving
in India, was posted to famine duty in March 1874 in Behar. Much of what he
records is mirrored in Kipling's story and his report, or one similar, might
well have been one of Kipling's sources.
Those who mock the hero of William the Conqueror for being too good to be
true will find that almost all his attributes had their counterparts in the
men who fought the famine in real life. Many of them died in the attempt;
Woodruff records that five civilian officers, two Indian Army subalterns, one
engineer and one police officer died during the famine of 1896-97 in the
Central provinces.
Yours Sincerely,
Roger Ayers
Membership Secretary,
The Kipling Society
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